Prio 1.99

Prio is a utility for saving the priority of applications and interface enhancements for the standard Task Manager Prio will save the applied changes and each time you start this process from now on, it will set the saved priority for it. You will not have to change the priority manually any more

What is the priority of an application?

Windows is a multitasking system. It means that a lot of various applications are running simultaneously in it. You directly work with some of them, but some of them work invisibly and independently. The priority of an application is a parameter that tells the system which task has priority over other tasks. For example, if there are two programs that are running simultaneously and with the same priority, they will have equal shares of the processor time. But in case you set a higher priority for one of them, the program that has this higher priority will use all the free processor time while the one with a lower priority will use only the rest of it. For example, if you have an application for rendering a video clip running on your computer, it will use the free processor time sharing it equally with, say, Explorer. It will result in Explorer working jerkily... But if you set a lower priority for the rendering program, it will use only the time that Explorer does not need. Explorer will work more smoothly and faster. It is also convenient to set a higher priority for multimedia players - the playback will be smoother. If you have some database service running on your computer, it is useful to set a lower priority for it so that it does not interfere with the work of those applications you are using at the moment. You can change the priority of processes on the Processes tab of Task Manager. Prio automatically detects any changes in priority and saves them in its settings. Next time you start this application, its priority will be restored.

Prio enhances the standard Processes tab with useful tooltips containing detailed information about each running process: its name, manufacturer, version and full path to the executable file. It also shows which system services are currently running in each process, if there are any. Prio adds a check box specifying whether the priority of this application should be restored to the standard popup menu, as well as the command for switching to one of the services that are currently in this process.Besides, the digital signature of an executable file is verified for each process. Processes that possess such a signature will be highlighted in green, processes without a signature will be highlighted in red. If you are sure about the origin of a process while its executable file has no digital signature, you can mark is as valid using the "Treat As Valid" menu item and it will be highlighted in green. If the executable file of this process is changed, it will become red again.